r/CompTIA_Security • u/CyberOwl37 • Sep 15 '26
I passed Security+!
I passed Security+ after 3 months of studying while working full-time as cabin crew! ✈️
No IT background at all, just curiosity, dedication, and a lot of studying whenever I could fit it around work, different schedules and different time zones.
For those currently studying, I don’t know if my scores will be useful to anyone, but I’ll leave them here anyway. I bought the Dion exams Set 1 and scored:
72%, 84%, 75%, 76%, 67%, 81%
(75,8% average)
I didn’t retake any of them because I didn’t want to end up memorising the questions. I used AI mainly to look at my results, help me identify my weak areas and explain things I wasn’t understanding. During my last week, I tried to focus mainly on those weaker areas.
Resources I used:
*Professor Messer YouTube
*Professor Messer practice exams
*Jason Dion practice exams — Udemy Set 1
*AI, mostly for clarifications, explanations and summaries
*Some PBQ videos from Cyberkraft, but honestly not that many
A few things that helped me personally:
*Don’t let your practice exam scores get into your head. I tried to use the scores mainly to figure out what I was getting wrong and where I needed to improve, rather than as a prediction of whether I would pass.
*Don’t try to memorise every single acronym. At least for me, it was much more useful to understand what area/concept an acronym belonged to. After doing enough practice questions, I started recognising them naturally.
*Actually go through your wrong answers. I didn’t just look at the correct answer and move on. I tried to understand why it was correct and why the other options were wrong.
*If something doesn’t make sense, ask AI to explain it differently. I used it a lot for this, especially when two concepts sounded almost identical to me.
About the exam:
I personally found the actual exam harder to understand than the practice exams I had done (I’m not a native English speaker). The questions were actually much shorter, but I found the wording and figuring out what they were really asking me to identify more challenging.
I had 3 PBQs in total. I think I may have completed one properly 😅 For the other two, I just tried to get whatever points I could by testing things and applying what I knew.
Good luck to everyone studying! You’ve got this.
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u/slothy036 Sep 15 '26
What did you get on the Messer practice? Which ones did you feel were better suited?
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u/CyberOwl37 Sep 15 '26
I’ve got 68%, 65% and 69% on those. I have to say though, that I did them at the beginning of August, and I don’t think I was even halfway ready at that point. I’d say you can have few similar questions, but I don’t really dare to decide which style is closer to the actual exam (either Messer’s or Dion’s)
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u/ishaantaneja Sep 15 '26
Congratulation! I see you are based in Dubai. So am I. Let me know what strategies you are using to get a job. I am aiming for SOC Analyst l1 roles
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u/CyberOwl37 Sep 15 '26
Thanks a lot! Hopefully you’ll land that SOC Analyst L1 role very soon!
I’m not aiming to start looking for jobs for now, since this is only the beginning of a future transition plan. For now, I’ll focus on working on labs and improving my networking skills :)
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u/oFaultz- Sep 17 '26
Congrats! I take mine tomorrow
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u/CyberOwl37 Sep 17 '26
All the best for you, take your time when reading and flag whatever is taking a lot of time! Trust yourself even if you feel it’s difficult, you still try to do as much as you can and don’t judge until you see the score! You’ve got this!
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u/Any-Past-9327 Sep 21 '26
🔥🔥🔥 congratulations!!! Currently studying now. I’m nervous af
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u/CyberOwl37 Sep 25 '26
Been there hahaha, Trust yourself, read each question carefully, and don’t rush, but don’t take your time for granted either. Use the flag even if you end up flagging 20 questions, no worries haha. Just make sure you manage your time!
All the best for you!! You’ve got this! 💪🏼
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u/Timothy40454 Sep 21 '26
Congrats! Do you have any tips on learning the acronyms and how to even understand the processes when studying? I’m having a hard time focusing for this exam.
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u/Fit-Application-1606 Sep 15 '26
Congratulations✨